The Rise of the Night
by A Derpy King Boo
Summary: The origin story of my OC, Lunar Nights. As he prepares to enroll in Princess Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns, a proposition arises that allows Lunar to fully gain insight as to how he can be the best unicorn he possibly can be.


The Rise of the Night

* * *

"Another book read and finished up."

Encasing the book with my aura, I placed it back on the shelf I took it down from. Taking a small break, I looked out the window and looked up to the sky and fixated my view on the moon. I wondered why the moon suddenly changed from about a week ago to today, and I didn't mean by phase.

The moon itself had literally changed. Craters that were once visible on the side of the moon could no longer be seen from where we are. It was strange to see something so big change so suddenly.

"Lunar?" Dad said.

I jumped a bit, frightened by the sudden noise. Turning around, I saw Dad enter my room. He chuckled and lifted me with his magic, bringing me closer to him. When I came close enough to him, he rubbed my mane with his hoof playfully, messing my mane up in a playful manner.

"I thought you went to bed a couple of hours ago." He told me. "What are you still doing up?"

I shrugged. "I dunno." I thought about the moon's drastic change. "Dad, can I ask you a question?"

He nodded. "What's on your mind, scamp?"

I pointed to the moon. "Why did the moon change like it did?"

He smiled and looked up at the moon, then brought me to my bed, tucking me into it. Dad was a unicorn of few words and when he did tell me something other than 'good morning' or 'good night,' it really went deep and turned into something philosophical. He rose from my bed and went to the doorway, turning off my lights.

"Dad?" I said.

"You'll find out in due time, Lunar." He finally answered. He turned to me one last time for the night. "Now go to bed. You've got yourself a long day tomorrow."

I nodded and went to bed for the night, falling asleep rather quickly.

* * *

" _Did you do that?"_

" _How can…where did you learn to do that, Lunar?"_

 _The area around me was all from my memory. I was in the living room in our old house in Caneighda, watching a younger version of myself perform a sophisticated levitation spell on a number of moveable objects in the room: the books, the coffee table, the small ottomans we had, and a few other things._

Easy, _I thought to myself,_ it actually wasn't as hard as I'd thought it would be.

" _I-I-I-" I remember being very frightened by my parents. I remember thinking that they would be mad at me for playing with my magic in such a way._

" _Lunar," Mom spoke softly, approaching me and wrapping me with her wings, "it's okay, Luny…you can calm down now. You're not in trouble or anything."_

 _I smiled softly when I heard Mom call me Luny. It was a cute nickname and Mom used it whenever I felt anxious. I looked onward as I saw younger me explain to Mom what happened._

" _I wed the wittle spell in the book."_

 _I smiled more._ I did always have trouble pronouncing those R's when I was younger.

 _Mom hugged me with her wings and her hooves. She nuzzled my neck softly, then pulled away a bit. Dad crouched down next to Mom and they both stared at me._

" _You know I'm not a unicorn," Mom began, "but even I could tell that that was some sort of spell, Luny."_

" _Weally?"_

 _Dad nodded. "Not even I can control that many things, Lunar. You have a gift."_

" _Can I open it, pwease?"_

 _Mom and Dad both chuckled quietly, as did I as I watched over them. Mom pat my head with her wing and shook her head, explaining to the younger me what it was that Dad meant._

" _It's not that kind of gift, sweetie." She told me. "He meant that you're a special unicorn."_

" _Special?" I repeated, tilting my head a bit._

 _They both nodded._

" _You might be able to achieve something great with this in your life." Mom continued._

 _The void started to fade into a dark abyss. I wondered what was happening, but I got an answer shortly after the abyss came into full view._

" _Lunar?" Dad said, his voice sounding raspy and filled with worry._

" _Where's Mommy?" I asked._

Oh no, _I thought,_ not this moment… _I felt a tear beginning to form in my eye._

 _Dad's eyes started to form tears as well. I was unsure of what was happening, so I thought that I'd done something wrong._

" _Am I in twouble?" I wondered._

 _Dad shook his head, hugging me tightly. "N-no…"_

" _Daddy…" I continued slowly. "What happened to Mommy? Where did she go?"_

 _A few tears escaped from Dad's eyes as well as my own. The void again faded to the dark abyss and left me alone in the darkness once more._

 _I knew exactly what had happened. Right before Hearth's Warming that year, Mom fell ill and was very weak. She spent a lot of time in the hospital near Ontneighrio and I remembered Dad taking me to visit her every single day once I came home from school. The doctors told us that she would be alright and that she would be home just after the start of the new year. That was something Dad and I had hoped for while Mom was stuck in her hospital bed, unable to move, unable to respond…_

 _Unable to live on her own behalf…_

 _*sniff*…I apologize…I do not like remembering the…final moment…_

 _If I knew that was the final time I'd see her, I would've said something else. The last thing I told her…_

…" _Mommy, come home…"_

 _The abyss started shaking violently. I started panicking and did not know what to do next._

 _The void collapsed on itself…_

* * *

I screamed myself awake, jumping out of the bed and looking around, breathing heavily and quickly. I looked for something to calm me down, but couldn't find anything.

I heard Dad rushing towards me, nearly barreling through my door just to get to me. I quickly glanced at him, still looking for something to correct my irrational breathing. He ran over to me and hugged me tight, rubbing my back softly and using a soothing, quiet voice to try to calm me down.

"Shh, shh…it's okay, Luny…" He told me. "Everything will be okay, Luny…"

My breathing shortened and I finally calmed down a bit. I turned to Dad and hugged him back tightly, a few tears escaping from my eyes. Dad rubbed my back even more softly and spoke to me quietly.

"You had that dream again," he said, "didn't you?"

I nodded slowly, wiping away some of my tears. "I just miss Mom so much…"

"I know, Lunar," he replied, "and so do I…but you know…I think she would be proud of what can possibly happen tomorrow. She would be proud of you just knowing you got that letter in the mail."

I looked over towards the letter I got about a month ago. It was an acceptance letter to Princess Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns and I got that about eighteen months after Mom died. She always wanted me to try to enroll in the school, ever since that day I showed off my control of my magic in the living room. It took a long time to muster up the courage to send an application, but I did so because I wanted to make Mom proud of what I could do.

"You have such an incredible gift, Lunar," Dad continued, pulling away from me and looking at me with loving eyes, "I know Mom would be proud of what you can possibly accomplish. She wanted you to go to that school, so I know you would keep her happy by doing things above and beyond."

"But what if I'm not good enough to be at that school, Dad?" I protested. "What if I can't please Princess Celestia?"

Dad shushed me. "Don't say that, Lunar. You are more than capable of enrolling at that school. I'm certain that Princess Celestia herself will even recognize the abilities that you have."

I nodded, but deep down, I knew that Princess Celestia – the ruler of the entire land of Equestria – would not personally notice my abilities. I'd highly doubt somepony who rules over an entire land would notice somepony of almost no importance like me.

Dad helped calm me down for a long time during the night. I closed my eyes and tried going back to bed, but I couldn't fall asleep. I sighed, waiting for morning to eventually arrive.

* * *

"There it is, Lunar," Dad smiled, looking upward at the gigantic castle in Canterlot, "Princess Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns."

It was enormous. The tall spires, the giant windows, the towers, everything…

I gulped, becoming more nervous about the entrance exam I had to perform. As Dad followed the other unicorns towards one of the smaller towers, I became a bit more weak in the knees. I started to panic a bit, but thankfully Dad was standing next to me, able to calm me down temporarily.

 _But what would happen if I became too panicked during the exam? How would that affect my magic? What if I'm unable to do the things I needed to do in order to pass that exam? What if–?_

"We're here, Lunar." Dad told me.

I blinked a few times, wondering how long I had those thoughts travel and whiz by in my head. We arrived at the tower fairly quickly and, once we stepped inside of it, my breathing became a bit more abnormal. There were a ton of rooms in the tower, but none of them were occupied. A large, double-wide door stood at the end of the hallway where each of the unicorns went into and came out of, presumably before and after their test was administered.

"You're gonna be fine," Dad said, he was speaking in his soothing voice, trying to match the voice Mom use to speak in when I was feeling anxious. "You have nothing to worry about. You're going to wow whoever is behind that door."

Unfortunately for me, because of my anxiety, time seems to fly by at a much quicker pace than I would like for it to. Before I even had a chance to comprehend what Dad told me, it was my turn to take my entrance exam. I gulped, looking up to Dad with a worried look.

"You can do this, son." He told me. "Do this for Mom…you know she'd be proud of where you are right now."

I nodded slowly, opening the door with my hoof and walking inside. I looked inside and gave a relieved sigh. Before me were two sophisticated looking unicorns holding up clipboards before them with their magic. They glared at me, intimidating me heavily. I stepped to the center of the room and then bowed to them, greeting them politely.

"Go-Good morning, sirs," I mumbled.

"What was that, youngster?" The left unicorn asked. He had a very deep voice that sounded like he should be hosting events or gameshows rather than judging unicorns based off their skills in magic.

I gulped, then bucked up some courage to speak louder. "G-Good morning, sirs."

The room filled with some silence afterwards. Before I knew it, a cart was pushed in front of me. On top of the cart were different test tubes, beakers, flasks, and liquids inside most of them. There were two flasks that were empty of liquid, which drew my attention the most. I turned to the judges and wondered what it was they wanted me to do.

"On the table are some liquids." The unicorn on the right told me. She used her magic to use her pencil to point to some of the beakers and test tubes. "Inside some of these test tubes and beakers is a liquid dense enough that can be controlled with unicorn magic."

"Your objective is to distill the liquid that can be controlled with magic and place it in the empty flasks." The male judge added.

I looked to the cart again and wondered where I should begin. I encased each of the test tubes with my magic evenly to see where the heaviest point was in each of them. The second test tube felt heavier than the others, so I started with that test tube, levitating it towards me gently and cautiously. I'd never worked with liquids of this nature before. The most I played with as a child was apple juice, and even that was limited.

I was getting ready to separate the liquid they talked about when I heard a different voice and hoofsteps in the room. Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I took a quick glance over to see who it was that had entered the room.

"I'm sorry I'm late, you two." The new voice whispered, "Did I miss anything?"

 _Is that…that can't possibly…what is…?_

"Princess Celestia," the judges delightfully responded, "you've missed not a single thing. Lunar Nights was performing his entrance exam for us just now."

"P-P-P-P-Princess…?" I repeated, losing all concentration in my magic and dropping the test tube and flask I was holding with it, causing it to shatter along the floor. I blushed, looking down to survey the damage. Looking back up, I could see the judges write things down on their clipboards.

"Now, now," Princess Celestia spoke, "don't penalize him for that. He's probably just a bit more nervous now that I'm in the room."

The two judges glanced over towards Princess Celestia, surprised to hear what she said. "But the child lost control over something basic."

Princess Celestia giggled. "We've all started–"

"I can pick up and clean this, Your Highness." I interrupted.

I concentrated as best as I could and started to lose control of my magic. Magic bursts started to release from my horn, the result of my anxiety. I tried desperately to regain control over my magic, but nothing I was doing was working. Concussive blasts of magic shot all around the room and my eyes began turning dark. I forced my eyes shut and kept them closed until I could regain the control again.

"Princess!" The lady judge cried. "Stay down!"

I didn't know what she was doing, but I felt myself be lifted into the air and I felt the presence of another horn touching mine, giving me control of my magic slowly. I blinked a few times, then looked around to see a pale yellow aura around my body. I looked forward and saw that Princess Celestia was levitating me in the air. I became fearful, unknown if the princess was angry with what happened just now. I prepared for the worst, but was astonished to see the princess smiling at me.

"You know," she spoke softly, "you remind me of another pony about the same age as you."

"I-I do?" I hesitated to say.

Princess Celestia nodded, setting me down on the ground. "She was a small purple unicorn. I recently sent her to Ponyville to continue learning from me there."

I was intrigued, but was still a bit worried about what just happened. "I-I'm sorry for my…my little outburst."

"It's quite alright, Lunar." Princess Celestia responded. "Your magic abilities remind me of that purple unicorn's."

"W-Why thank you, Princess." I answered, smiling a bit.

I felt the princess' wing push me towards where I came in from. "Come along, Lunar…I want to speak with you and whoever else is here with you."

I blushed, walking alongside the tall, white alicorn back towards the door I walked through originally. I tried to open the door when we got to it, but the princess opened it for the both of us, allowing me to go first. I looked up at her, wondering if this was okay.

"Go on, Lunar." She smiled. "It's okay."

I went through the door and saw Dad waiting for me. He came towards us and hugged me tightly, gazing upward at the princess. He bowed to her, then began to address her properly.

"Greetings, Your Highness." Dad beamed delightfully.

"Hello." Princess Celestia smiled in return. "You must be Lunar's father."

"I sure am, yes."

"I'd like to talk to you both inside one of these rooms, if that is okay with you, sir." Princess Celestia continued.

"Yes, of course." Dad answered, looking at me, then at the princess again.

The princess smiled politely and began to escort us to one of the nearby rooms in this hallway. She opened the door to it, closing and locking it behind her. I looked around the room and saw all the desks and books the room had to offer and was beyond amazed. I felt like it resembled my room and calmed down, reaching my point of normalcy. I turned back to Dad and the princess and smiled happily. Dad sat down in one of the chairs, as did the princess. The two of them turned to me and smiled brightly at me.

"Lunar," Princess Celestia started, "can you take a guess why I brought you here with your father?"

I thought about what the princess asked me. I could take a guess, but it would be something she just told me: "Because I remind you of that other unicorn?"

Princess Celestia giggled quietly. "Well, yes," she turned to Dad, "but it's something else I want to talk to you about."

"And what was that, Your Highness?" Dad asked.

"Lunar?" Princess Celestia called. "Mr. Nights? Have…?" She trailed off briefly before picking up again. "Tell me: do either of you believe in mare's tales, such as the old 'Mare on the Moon' tale?"

"Well," Dad began, turning to me momentarily, "n-not exactly."

"I do…" I answered.

Princess Celestia focused her attention on me for the next question. "Do you know what that story is about, Lunar?"

"Yeah," I replied informally, "the 'Mare on the Moon' is an old story that states that there is an mare trapped in the moon. The mare, who goes by the name of Nightmare Moon, vowed vengeance and promised to return one day, using the stars as her guide. She wanted to bring eternal night down to everypony and, well, clearly that hasn't happened."

Princess Celestia nodded. "You know your history very well, Lunar. I am very impressed."

"History?" I repeated. "But that's an old mare's tale…although I believe the story, it isn't true…is it?"

"Well…" continued the princess. She paused for a long time. "Let me ask you this, Lunar…can you name the princesses of the land?"

"Well," I started, "there's yourself…umm…then there is Princess Cadance…I can't recall any of the oth-oh, there's Prince Blueblood as well." I stopped and tried thinking of anypony else that was royalty. "I don't know anypony else that may be a prince or princess."

"So you've never heard of the princess of the night?" Princess Celestia inquired.

"I know that the queen of the eternal night is Nightmare Moon." I answered.

Princess Celestia smirked, rubbing her chin with her forehoof slightly. "Tell me more about what you know in regards to Nightmare Moon."

"From my readings," I responded, "I know that Nightmare Moon was a formidable foe for you, Princess. If I'm not mistaken, you fought her yourself and…" It finally hit me, what Princess Celestia was trying to tell me.

"And what, Lunar?" She smiled.

"You trapped her in the moon…" I slowly answered. "Thus making the 'Mare on the Moon' tale…" I thought about my response closely. "Th-that can't really be a true story, Princess…did you really go against Nightmare Moon that long ago?"

Princess Celestia nodded. "I did. Do you know what was used to imprison Nightmare Moon inside the moon for the thousand years?"

"I believe they were called the Elements of Harmony, if I'm not mistaken." I answered.

"Tell me about them, Lunar."

"There are five elements that make up the Elements of Harmony: Honesty, Laughter, Loyalty, Generosity, and Kindness." I said. "There are rumors of a sixth element, but those rumors are mostly false. There was no solid evidence to prove that a sixth element was found."

"Not until recently." Princess Celestia pointed out.

"It was found?" Dad asked.

"Remember that purple unicorn I told you about, Lunar?" Princess Celestia asked me.

I nodded in response. "Yes, Your Highness."

"Well," she continued, "that unicorn's name is Twilight Sparkle. She was a very gifted unicorn when she enrolled here at my school, much like you are. She recently discovered the missing sixth element – Magic – and used it to defeat Nightmare Moon in an old castle inside the Everfree Forest recently. Do you know what happened next?"

I shook my head slowly, before remembering the strange variance in the shape of the moon recently, drawing a rather unusual conclusion. "The moon did change its appearance recently…"

"It did," Princess Celestia acknowledged, "because of what Twilight Sparkle did. By defeating Nightmare Moon, she broke the curse Princess Luna was in for a thousand years."

"Princess Luna?" I repeated.

"That's a name I do not recognize, Your Highness." Dad added.

"That is because Princess Luna has been trapped in the moon for over a thousand years." Princess Celestia told us both.

I was surprised. Confused, I asked Princess Celestia a question of my own. "But I thought that Nightmare Moon was trapped in the moon for over a thousand years, Princess. Are you saying that there was a second pony trapped in the moon for the same time?"

The princess giggled. "Not exactly, Lunar. You see, Nightmare Moon came from Princess Luna's subconscious. Princess Luna and I used to rule over Equestria together, but when Princess Luna became a bit more jealous and let her emotions get the better of her, she became Nightmare Moon and tried to enact an endless night throughout the land. That's when I fought her and trapped her in the moon using the Elements of Harmony. Fast forward a thousand years and Nightmare Moon returns and the new wielders of the Elements of Harmony fight her and break the curse held on my sister, returning her to the land."

Two of the princess' words stuck with me like glue. "Your sister?"

Princess Celestia nodded, turning to the door and waving her hoof for somepony else to enter. The door was encased in a royal cobalt aura and opened up to us, revealing a smaller alicorn to Dad and myself. The alicorn was the same height I was and was roughly the same color as me. Aside from their mane color, it felt like I was looking into a mirror that swapped my gender. Her mane was azure colored to my black. Stepping forward, she appeared to be nervous about being near us.

"Lunar," Princess Celestia smiled, "Mr. Nights, this is my younger sister, Princess Luna."

"G-Greetings, fellow subjects." Princess Luna said, waving at both Dad and myself.

Both of us bowed in the presence of another alicorn and returned her greeting.

"It's a pleasure, Your Highness." Dad told her.

"Good morning, Princess." I added.

Princess Luna walked next to Princess Celestia and sat down in a chair next to her. Princess Celestia smiled at Princess Luna, then turned to Dad and I again.

"Now Lunar," Princess Celestia began again, "I'm going to take a good guess that you enjoy studying during the nighttime hours and enjoy basking in the moonlight a bit more than in the sunlight, am I not right?"

I nodded. "Well, it is in my name, Princess Celestia. Both of our names revolve around the nighttime hours." I motioned to Dad.

Princess Celestia turned to Dad, who told her what his first name was. "My first name is Eclipse."

"Eclipse?" Princess Celestia repeated. "That is a very fine name for a very mature unicorn like yourself, Mr. Nights, same for you Lunar."

"Thank you, Princess." I smiled.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Dad added.

"You're both quite welcome." Princess Celestia replied. "Now Lunar, do you know how my school works?"

"The students take their classes during the day and focus on strengthening their magic with you," I answered, "right?"

"You're close to it." Princess Celestia remarked. She turned to Princess Luna. "Do you have anything you want to add, sister?"

"W-Well," Princess Luna spoke, nervousness being traced easily in her voice, "I've been wanting to follow in my sister's hoofsteps and open a school of my own, young Lunar Nights. However, as I'm sure my sister has told you, our past…well, it isn't the brightest star in the sky, if you know what we mean."

I nodded slowly, thinking I may know what Princess Luna might have meant by that.

"Lunar," Princess Celestia continued, "would you be willing to learn from my sister and help her start up her own school? The reason I ask this from you is because you and my sister both enjoy the night very much and are both more active during the evening hours than during the daytime hours. Since there is no teacher yet in her school like there are in mine, I'm sure Princess Luna would be more than happy in teaching you herself."

I was astonished, anxious, and happy all at once. I didn't know what to say, leaving my mouth opened with no words coming out of them.

"I'm sure you two would have just as much fun as I had with Twilight Sparkle when she was here in Canterlot." Princess Celestia added.

I nodded excitedly. "Of course, Your Highness!"

Princess Luna smiled softly. "Thank you, young Lunar Nights."

I beamed delightfully as I found out I would be learning directly from a princess of Equestria.

* * *

On the first day of my new learnings, Princess Luna took me outside with her and positioned me next to her on the balcony. She turned to me and smiled happily at me.

"Lunar Nights," she began, "do you know how the sun and moon are raised and lowered?"

I nodded. "Princess Celestia used to raise the sun and moon, Your Highness."

"That would be correct, Lunar Nights," answered Princess Luna, "and please, you may call me Luna."

"As you wish, Luna." I chuckled.

"My sister tells me that you're one skilled unicorn." Luna stated. "Would you like to learn how to paint my nightly sky with some stars?"

I nodded excitedly. "Oh yes, please, Luna!"

Luna giggled. "Very well, my little pony. Now, watch me and follow my lead."

Luna began concentrating and started raising the moon, giving me pointers as to how I could paint the sky with stars. Following her advice, I used my magic to reveal a plethora of stars in the sky. I smiled, watching all of the stars shine brightly against the sky and against the nice, soothing light the moon gave off. Luna cleared her throat, tapping me on my flank.

"It seems as if our lessons are influencing the destiny of a certain somepony." She told me.

I looked back and saw that a cutie mark had revealed itself on my flank. I was incredibly happy as a figure of a full moon surrounded by some stars appeared on my flank. I chuckled, looking to Luna's cutie mark and drawing some comparisons to hers.

"We almost have identical marks, Luna." I smiled.

"Some destinies are broad enough where multiple ponies can partake in them." Luna replied. "It seems as if, perhaps, we were destined to meet."

"Do you think Princess Celestia foresaw before sending me to learn from you, Princess?" I wondered.

"It is hard to say," Luna said, "since destinies cannot be seen in that particular way. Some destinies are like set paths and can only be achieved at some point in a pony's life while other destinies are more complex and require much more learning, time, and dedication to uncover. My destiny was something like that."

"How did you get your cutie mark, Princess?" I curiously asked.

"The day my mark came to me…" Luna giggled. "That was a day I will never forget." She began to tell me the story of how she got her cutie mark as the first lesson came to a slight close.

 _I think I'll enjoy this path very much._ I thought as I listened deeply to Luna's story.

* * *

 _ **~Three years later~**_

"…Such an intriguing take on an old spell." I smirked. "Difficult to read, but…what else would Ponish be good for? It's always good to challenge yourself every now and again…"

I just finished reading some of Star Swirl the Bearded's spells in one of his old journals that he kept around in the Canterlot archive. Princess Luna gifted me this journal as a result of how far I had progressed in my studies since being taken under her wing a few years ago. Most of the time, I focused on studying and pleasing Princess Luna as best as I could. I was always there when I could be and often was the one to help her out if she needed anything heavy or while she was sick.

My time in Princess Luna's School of Enchanted Unicorns has been nothing short of enjoyable and I appreciate mustering up the courage to try to enroll in Princess Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns because were it not for that one decision, I would never had enrolled in Princess Luna's school…or been asked to enroll in it, at least.

I turned the page in the journal and saw the heading on the page. I smiled and widened my eyes a bit as I read slowly that it was Star Swirl the Bearded's final spell before he disappeared from Equestria. I began reading it a bit slowly and wondered what kind of spell this could be.

" _From one to another, another to one. A mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled._ " I flipped the page and was shocked to see it empty. "Is…this can't be all of it, right? The spell doesn't even rhyme or anything…"

I was astonished because I did not expect anything less than completed work from Star Swirl. Suddenly, as if on cue, an indigo colored scroll appeared in front of me. A seal on the scroll let me know that this came directly from Princess Luna herself. Taking the seal off of the scroll and unraveling it, I started to read what Princess Luna sent me.

 _Dear Lunar Nights:_

 _I trust that you are studying very hard right now in your pursuit towards your destiny. I am writing this letter to you in regards to the Star Swirl the Bearded journal, assuming you have read up to, if not, passed it at the present moment. I also assume that you might be wondering why the final spell is incomplete._

"Just a bit, Princess." I said out loud. I continued reading the letter.

 _The last spell in the journal was Star Swirl the Bearded's final spell. After many unsuccessful attempts at perfecting it, he abandoned the spell because he lacked the key motivation to perfect it, which was understanding friendship._

 _If you can recall, my sister had given a copy of this same journal to her former star pupil, Twilight Sparkle. She studied under my sister's tutelage for a couple of years before you started your studies. Princess Twilight Sparkle resides in Ponyville now, a town located not too far from Baltimare. I have arranged a meeting between you and Princess Twilight Sparkle. I want you to learn the wonders of friendship from her in the hopes that you too may be able to further your studies like she has._

 _Enclosed in this letter is a map to Ponyville. I expect you to travel there and learn the wonders of friendship. You have made me proud of all of your accomplishments over these last few years, especially in helping me overcome some of my own fears and help me to start a school that even my sister is proud of. However, all of your accomplishments will be for nothing if you cannot learn how to make friends. If you learn the wonders of friendship, then I know you will be ready to continue on in your studies._

 _Warmest regards,_

 _Princess Luna_

Looking at the map that was enclosed in the letter, I saw that Ponyville was indeed close to Baltimare. Not wanting to displease Princess Luna, I began packing my saddlebags with some necessities, the journal, Princess Luna's letter, and my good luck charm. I gazed up at the moon, prepared to embark on my journey towards Ponyville.

 _Princess Twilight Sparkle?_ I thought. _Why does that name sound so familiar?_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_ _  
_

 _My first story in roughly a year. I do apologize for the long wait, but things got rough for me in 2017. Some of that emotion poured over into this story (and to those that really read in depth, they can possibly tell what happened). I haven't been entirely absent though, as I wrote part one of a three part novel that I cannot upload here (it's not fanfiction of anything, rather a new idea). I am trying to go back to a sense of normalcy and writing is what I consider normal. I hope to publish more in the future here._

 _-Dan_


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